Transmission



TRANSMISSION Filed Dec. 25, 1940 INVENTOR HMM/v D. JA @K55 JR.

" Lla meme ou.v 13,' 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicF.

poration of New York 4 Appucaupp necember as, 1940, semi No. 311.3415 z claim. (ci. 'zi-seo is shawn at In,` this being prpvidedvwitn a drive This invention relates to transmissions and is particularly concerned with a clutching system by which the drive ratio in a gear train may be altered while the gear train is under load.

A particular application vfor the teachings of my invention is in connection with two-speed -supercharger drives as used on aircraft engines. Av supercharger impeller is gear driven from the engine crankshaft, and means may be provided to change the ratio of drive from the crankshaft to the impeller. Since the shifting of gear ratio must be done under load, friction clutches are used to engage the gears for dierent ratios. These clutches are operated by hydraulic pressure cells which rotate with the gears. In such a rotating clutch'celL'centrifugal pressure is built up so that even when the uid pressure supply is cut.

olf from the cell, the clutch may still be held in engagement unless the centrifugal fluid pressure is relieved by suitable leak openings at the periphery of the clutch cell. In internal combus- A tion engines, the lubricating oil which is used to i311 the clutch operating. cells may accumulate ging by foreign matter.: It is a further object -of the invention to provide a dual clutch and hydraulic pressure cell system wherein friction clutches are contained within the hydraulic cells Y but wherein the friction clutch of one cell is engaged by the admission of pressure fluid to the other cellthat cell in which the engaged clutch v is located is `clear of hydraulic fluid.

A further object of the invention is to provide v a clutch system for a two-speed gearset in which inversely operating friction clutches are used and in which engagement of one clutch positively enforces disengagement of the other clutch.

' 111815' iournaled on the layshaft I3..V

'Further objects of the invention will become .on a layshaft I3.

nei-map n. Jacken, .l1-mummia N. J. man#A la summum communi. a m.

gear II meshed with a pinion I2 'oatingly borne The left end of the layshaft has splined thereto as at I4 the hub I5 of` a gear I3 meshed with a pinion I1 on a supercharger yilniiellershaft I3 sleeved over the shaft I0 and rotatable relative thereto. Said shaft I8 also carries a pinion I3 meshed with the gear 20 oat- At the left end of the pinion I2 is secured, as at 22, a combined piston and clutch plate 23 engaged for axial movement in a cylinder- 24 through splines 2l and sealed relative to the cylinder by a piston ring 23. The cylinder 24 obviously rotates with the piston 23 and is Iournaledl on a bushing 21 upon the hub of the gear 20. The facing portions of the cylinder 24 and of the piston 23 embrace a clutch plate 23 splined atV 30 to the hub of the gear 23 so that, when the pinion I2 is shifted axially to the left, the elements 23 and 24 are frictionally engaged with the clutch plate 29 to ail'ord direct drive from the pinion I2 to the gear 20.

To the righthand end ofthe pinion I2 is se.-

cured a cylinder 32, as atv 33, said cylinder including splines 34 `carrying clutch plates 35 and a piston 33, the cylinder 32 and the piston 38 being relatively. axially movable and being sealed to one another during axial movement by a pistonring 31. The piston 36 is borne on a bushing 38 supported by a flange 33 of the layshaft I3. Saidl flange also carries a splined element 4h upon which clutch plates 4I are mounted for rotation therewith and for axial movement relative thereto. Thus, when the pinion I2 is movedl to the."

right, the clutch plates 35 andv 4i are engaged with one another to afford direct drive from the pinion I2 through the cylinder 32 to the layshaft I3 and to the gear I6.

It will be apparent from the above that alternate drive ratios are available according to whether the clutch 23, 24. 23, or the clutch 35, 4I is engaged. Since alternate engagement of the olutches depends upon axial shift of the pinion I2', it will vbe apparent that one of the clutches must be disengaged while the other clutch is engaged and vice versa.

'me -nyshaft l: is houow and'is provided with a sleeve 43 having anaxial drilling 44 communicating at its righthand end with a cavity 45 to which pressure fluid may be selectively fed through aconduit 46. The drilling 44 communicates through passages formed in the elements 43 and I3. with the cavity between the piston 23 and cylinder 24. Y When pressure fluid is admitted to the conduit 46, the piston 23 is moved to the right' with respect tothe cylinder 24, positively disengaging the clutch 23, 24, 29 and positively enforcing rightward movement of the pin.

ion I2 and engagement of the clutch 35, 4I. At'

this time, no fluid pressure will be passed to the pressure cell formed by the cylinder 32 and the piston 3S, and that fluid which may remain in' cant withinthe. cell to prevent the deposition of sludge or foreign matter on the interior of the wall of the cylinder 24. Small peripheral bleed openings 49 are provided in the cylinder 24 for leakage of pressure uid therefrom, these openings being small enough so that they cannot scavenge the pressure cell while it is open to the fluid pressure supply.

Pressure fluid may be admitted to the presi .the orifices. 49 and whereupon' pressure fluid admitted to the cylinder 32 will cause leftward shift of the pinion I2 and consequent engagement of the clutch. formed vby the elements 23, 24, 29. The leftward movement of the pinion I2 positive- 1y disengages the clutch plates 35 and 4I and these plates will rotate relative to one another as the drive passes directly from the pinion I2 through the clutch 23, 24, 2S to the gear 20. Thus, in the cell which includes the cylinder-32 the pressure-fluid therein will be violently agitated by the relative rotation ofthe clutch plates to the endithat 4deposition of foreign matter is prevented and there will be continual small fluid bleed through the peripheral orifices 48.

When the kleithand pressure cell is actuated by pressure fluid, the hydraulic reaction is carried thrust bushing 5l. Leftward force upon the cylinder 32 engages the lefthand clutch, and the thrust bearings I4, `5i and II transfer the leftward force from the hydrauliceell to the lefthand portion vof the fixed housing l1.

Fig. 2 merely shows a single plate clutch as an alternate for the multi plate clutch 3l,- 4I. The

'clutch of Fig. 2 is substantially Similar t0 the lefthand clutch of Fig. 1, .tumedzend for end.

It will be apparent that two advantages iiow from the invention-one, that the friction clutches-are coincidentally inversely operable;

that is, whenone is engaged the otheris forcib disengaged and the clutches may beoperated without slackening theA torsional driving force' from the crankshaft Il. The other advantage is that the clutches and their operating fluid presnot accumulate sludge or foreign matter regardless of how long it may be held in engagement. The construction of this invention would tend to overcome some of the faults of prior apparatus which functioned perfectly so long as shifts between high and low ratio were made at fairly frequent intervals but which had a tendency to lock up or freeze in one ratio if shifts from one ratio to" another were not made at frequent intervals, this freezing up being due in large part to the accumulation of sludge and foreign matter in the pressure cells which interfered with their proper functioning.

While I have described my invention in detail in its present preferred embodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding my invention, that'various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. I aim in the appended claims to cover all such modiilcations and changes.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a transmission assembly, a drive shaft havinga' relatively large gear, a sleeve embracing the drive shaft having side-by-side different sized pinions, both on one side of the drive gear,

a layshaft having a pinion rotatable thereon and meshed with the drive gear, said layshaft having a gear meshed with one driven pinion, a sleeve "rotatable on the layshaft having a gear engaged withV the otherA driven pinion, a first friction clutch between the layshaft pinion and said laypinion, engageable to couple the layshaft pinion Vto the layshaft and its gear.

A2. In Ia transmission assembly, a drive shaft having a relatively large gear, a sleeve embracing the drive shaft having side-by-side different sized pinions, both on one side o1' the drive gear, a layshaft` having a pinion rotatable thereon and meshed with the drive gear, said layshaft havinga gear meshed with one driven pinion, a

' sleeve rotatable on the layshaft having a gear enmed with the other driven pinion, a rst friction clutch between the layshaft pinion and said layshaft and sleeve gears, of larger diameter than the layshaft pinion, engageable to couple the layshaft pinion to the sleeve gear, a second friction clutch on the opposite side of the layshaft pinion and larger in diameter than the layshaft pinion, engageable to couple the layshaft pinion to the layshaft and' its gear, said clutches each including an element rigid with the ends ofA the layshaft pinion, said elements and pinion being bodily. axially shiftable to enforce disengagement o'f one clutch 'when the other is engaged, and hydraulic means embodied in said clutches to enforce said axial shift.

HERMAN D. JACKES, JB. 

